CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — It’s been eight years since Lindsey Vonn’s last Olympic run. Now 41, one titanium knee heaver and down an ACL, she risked it all for the gold one last time. Vonn crashed 13.4 seconds into her run, ending what could be the final race of her career as she was evacuated from the pitch via medical helicopter.
Another American, Jackson Hole’s Breezy Johnson, took the gold after completing her run in 1 minute and 36.1 seconds, though the victory paled in the moment to the crash and likely end to Vonn’s legendary career and past week.
Silver medalist Germany’s Emma Aicher raced to the finish just 0.04 seconds behind Johnson’s time. Italian hometown hero Sofia Goggia took bronze. Team USA’s Jackie Wiles came in fourth in her second Olympic Games, 12 years after her Olympic debut in Sochi 2014.
This gold is the first Olympic medal of Johnson’s career, the first won by the United States at the 2026 Games, and the second-ever gold downhill medal for the U.S. women’s team.
The first went to Vonn in 2010.
Vonn, the 13th racer to start, fell at the first jump when she hooked her arm inside the fourth gate, twisting herself perpendicular to the pitch and tumbling over herself as she landed. She was not seen moving as medical personnel flooded the slope before loading her into the stretcher to be airlifted away.
She crashed just seconds after leaving the start gate, all the gusto and power of her launch spent in an instant.
The crowd’s dismayed outcry echoed through the venue before falling immediately into a long, stunned silence. Only the DJ’s relentless beat continued, horribly incongruous with the spectators, who stood frozen and watching for any sign of movement or word of her condition that never came until the whir of the helicopter overhead.
Vonn’s sisters, parents and friends closed their eyes to the broadcast replay, gazing at their feet as they grappled with the outcome of Vonn’s daring last race.
It’s been just over a week since Vonn crashed in her last World Cup race of the season at Crans-Montana on Jan. 30, where she ruptured her ACL. She announced on Tuesday that she would press on and race her Olympic downhill run without surgery, despite a complete tear of the ligament, bone bruising and meniscal tears in her left knee.
Vonn did well in her training runs ahead of Sunday’s race, finishing on Saturday with the third-fastest time at 1 minute and 38.28 seconds.
Johnson was sitting in the leader’s chair as she watched the crash, crying as the outcome settled in. With crossed fingers, she wished her friend well.
The atmosphere of the crowd never fully recovered in the wake of Vonn’s crash, which was followed by two others: Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Andorra’s Cande Moreno. The stands stayed quiet through the next skier, Austrian Mirjam Puchner’s descent, and while the crowd briefly found its voice for Goggia, the energy didn’t return until the medal ceremony.
Longtime friend and rival of Vonn, bronze medalist Goggia, embraced her teammates at the finish in tears. Goggia won the silver in the 2022 women’s downhill and the gold in 2018. Having now completed the rainbow on home soil, she joked, she hopes her luck will reset and she’ll earn another of every color.
Jackie Wiles made her historic Olympic comeback this year, 12 years after her last Games in Sochi 2014. At 33, she said it is difficult to come to terms with her fourth-place seat — so close to the podium and without much time left in her career to get there.
“I’m extremely happy for Breezy. It’s incredible. She did an amazing job today. But of course, it’s hard being in fourth. I feel like, after everything I’ve been through in my career at my age, I don’t have many chances left,” said Wiles. “So, yeah, it hurts. It’s really hard. But trying to look ahead. Still have more racing, and that’s all I can do.”
“There were a lot of emotions already before I even ran. I saw Breezy have an incredible run. I was really pumped and psyched for her. It was cool to watch. And then watching Lindsey go down from the stat was pretty awful,” said Wiles. “We have such a sisterhood. We travel with each other on the road. We’re a family. And to watch someone you care about that much … it really sucks. And my heart broke for her in that moment.”
Wiles said she knew the team had to keep focus, despite the challenge of a 20-minute delay and concern for teammate Vonn.
“I knew that she would want us to stay in it,” Wiles said. “Bella (Wright) and I still had a race. We still had a job at hand, and she would want us to go out there and give it our best.”
Teammate Isabella Wright, who finished the Olympic downhill in 21st place, said that regardless of the outcome, Vonn should be proud.
“It’s the last thing you want to see for Lindsay, but she should be really proud of everything that she has gone through to get back here. And regardless if she got last today, if she won, she obviously crashed, but whatever happened today, she’s an inspiration to all of us, and she should be really proud,” said Wright.
As the race resumed, Johnson remained in the leader’s chair for all 31 racers that followed her, waiting in anxious anticipation of one racer getting close to her time. She said she knew her time was great, enough for a medal, but as fast as it was, watching Aicher close in on the finish made her a little nervous.
“I was pretty sure it would be enough for a medal,” she said. “When Emma was coming down, I was a little stressed. But otherwise, it was really nice.”
For Goggia, the long course hold and warming snow took an emotional toll ahead of her start. She raced just one skier after Vonn’s horrific crash, making it difficult to keep focus in the moments leading up to her start.
“It was really a mental challenge,” Goggia said. “I stayed focused on myself. I didn’t watch anyone else. I had my lines, my strategy.”
At 20 years old, Aicher is the youngest to medal in this event since 1994 and earned Germany their first medal in the event in 28 years. But while Aicher was keeping Johnson on her toes, she stood just as stunned at the finish after what she said felt like a less-than-perfect run.
“It’s unbelievable what happened today. (My run) didn’t feel good, to be honest. Over every roller and jump, I didn’t feel great, but I think I managed to let the speed go pretty well,” said Aicher.
These women race again on Monday in the team combined, an Olympic debut for the combined downhill and slalom event that launched Johnson to dual World Champion status last year when she won with Mikaela Shiffrin after getting the gold in the downhill event, exactly a year to the date of her Olympic gold, Feb. 8.
For Wiles and many others, this is another shot at the Olympic dream.
“I feel like I have so much speed on this hill, and I’m grateful that I have another shot at it,” she said.